Collapsible containers



June 23, 1959 M. MAYNARD COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNov. 19, 1956 M. MAYNARD COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERS June 23, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1956 United States Patent CQL MSI LE QO AR 'Michael Maynard, London, England, assignor to Gestetner *Limited,London, England, a British company App i ation Nov mb 1. 1 Serial No-622,920

Claims. ((1222-92) This invention relates to collapsible .containers forpasty materials and semi-solids and particularly concerns containers forink used in duplicating machines, wherein :the ink is withdrawn, duringoperation of the machine, by a pump driven with the machine (or manuallyactuated) and suitably .connectedto the nozzle of the container. .iSuchcontainers may be made of .a thermoplastic or other soft material. Inprevious containers :of this type .it is Eknown to ensure .eifectiveWithdrawal of uthe'ink by means of .a feed tube which connects with thenozzle .and extends the =container'to near the bottom' thereof, the inkbeing :drawn up the tube and "through .the nozzle by the .pump. :Onwithdrawal of the ink the container collapses and it is ncessary toensure that on collapse .a transverse closure band is notformedacrossthe'containcr'beneath which ink is trapped as .the trappedink is wasted. The feed tube referred t has be n-provid d w th a view tprevent h m tion-of enclosure band. It is the object of this inventionto prov de m an by which t e a v di v age i overcome w h u r s. ug t ted tu e fit ed o th c ntainer.-

Aeeq d ng t t s invent o the co ta ne comprises a non-tubular memberwithin the container and extendhas fr m ea the sho de the eo to near thebott m an adapt an o apse of t e wal e -the containe to de e w th a t wal a a hwise ex en n tu 1ar-p .ses e Thememh r may be p fo ate slotte ors r d ee the wi e ormed s hat sa d p a e ay s P aced-i1;s mmu ie tien'ht ush t e perfor ns r t li e iththe ins st nt the ema ner u oundin h psa ew vhe p esen tiav u on may be ca ed nt f n a number or .ways andseveral of these will now be descr ed, :by av ftexama e In one ar anemen ther is t e wi h container and extending from .near: the shoulderto near the bottom .ofthe container '3. U.-s ection member the wall ofwhich ma b re te ateds s t e As th i is wi h from the containera d thewalls thereof collapse the lat- .tercorne against the member and definetherewith the longitudinal passageway referred to. The inkwis .drawn upthe container through the longitudinal passageway and the rieratieas rslat tha the in is fed into the longitudinal passageway for convenientwithdrawal. The open side of the member may face directly towards one.side wall of the container or it may face towards one ,Sideedge-thereof-it being understood that the side edge "extends downwardly of thecontainer to one end ofthe'bottomiclosure. Instead-of a U-section memberan H- or C-seetion member may be provided. If an H- mernb er is providedit is preferred that the longitudinal grooves {therein facesideways "ofthe container and that 2,891,700 Patented June .23, 1.9.59

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member-is substantially less than the diameter of the container. Inorder, therefore, to support the member within the container there maybe provided radial arms at the top and/ or bottom of the member toengage the inner surface at the sides of the container. The radial armsmay be formed in one with the member or separately formed andsubsequently attached thereto. 'In any event they are preferably fiat soas not to prevent the collapse of the container.

In an alternative arrangement the container may be made from athermoplastic tube which is attached to 'a moulded shoulder, the tubebeing extruded in long lengths and cut into convenient pieces for suchcontainer. The extruded tube is formed with one or more internal ribswhich constitute a lengthwise extending member which forms thelongitudinal passageway .on collapse of the container. I

In yet another arrangement the member is constituted by a corrugatedplate extending substantially from the bottom of the container to'theshoulder and substantially fully across the width of the container.

The present invention is illustrated, merely by way of example, in theaccompanying drawings of which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a filled container,

Figure 2 is a transverse section of the container of Figure 1, thecontents of the container having been withdrawn so that the walls of thecontainer have collapsed,

Figure '3 is a'brokenaway perspective view of another embodiment .of-afilled container,.and

Figure 4 is a transverse section through yet another embodiment of theinvention, the full lines indicatingthe position of the parts when thecontainer is filled and the dotted lines indicatingthe portion oftheparts when the contents of the container :have been withdrawn.

The collapsible container illustrated in Figure 1 is adapted to containink for use in duplicating machines and comprises a body 5 made of athermoplastic material, an integral shoulder 6, a nozzle 7 and .aclosure cap The bottom of the container is closed as at 9. The body 5 ofthe-container is filled with the ink through the bottom thereof and,having been filled, is closed as at 9.

There is inserted into the container 5 a member generally indicated at10, the member 10 being in the form of a corrugated plate as moreparticularly shown in Figure 2. The member 10, when the container isfull, extends substantially from the bottom of the container to theshoulder and substantially fully across the width of the container.While the member 10 is preferably made of a synthetic resin material itmaybe made of metal or any other known -or convenient material which isinert to the contents of the container. 7

As the ink is withdrawn from the container through the nozzle 7 thewalls of the container collapse and, as shown in Figure 12., extendacross the ridges of the corrugated member to define lengthwiseextending passageways 11 through which the ink travels to beneath theshoulder 6 and hence out through the nozzle 7.

It will be observed from Figure 2 that the container when collapsed hasconsiderably greater width than that of the member 10. During collapsethe Walls along the sides of the member .10 come into contact, as at'12, but, having regard to the nature of the material of the wall, thewall along the sides of the container defines a lengthwise extendingpassage 13 along which the ink may travel to beneath the, shoulder 6,, ik being forced into p s ge 13 and towards the member 10 as the wallcomes together .at .12.

The corrugations of the member 10 are so designed as to ensure that whenin the fully collapsed condition of the container the Wall thereofextends across the ridges of the corrugations as shown in Figure 2. Ifthe ink is highly viscous there is a greater tendency for the walls ofthe container to enter the troughs of the corrugated member and to closethe passageways 11. To prevent this the ridges of the corrugations maybe brought closer together and the depth of the troughs 11 increased.

As stated above the longitudinal passageway extends to the shoulder butthe member does not communicate directly with the nozzle of thecontainer. It may be that if a container is partly used and put away anair space is formed beneath the shoulder which prevents subsequentefiective withdrawal of the ink. To reduce or prevent this it ispreferred to extend the nozzle inwardly of the container as a shorttube. The length of the tube is sufficient to ensure that having regardto the viscosity of the ink the latter will remain in the tube so thatwhen the container is re-used the pump will be effective to withdraw inkfrom the container. Alternatively the length of the nozzle 7 may beincreased and the diameter of the discharge orifice therethrough reducedto such an extent that, having regard to the viscosity of the ink, it isensured that the frictional resistance of the ink within the dischargenozzle will prevent the ink from being withdrawn from the dischargenozzle.

Alternative embodiments of the invention are illustrated in Figures 3and 4.

In Figure 3 there is shown a container within whose body 5 there ismounted a channel member 14 which, as in the case of the member 10,extends from near the shoulder of the tube (not shown) to near thebottom thereof. Although as shown in Figure 3 the channel member 14 issubstantially of U-section it could be made substantially of H-sectionor C-section if so desired. It will be noted from Figure 3 that thewidth of the channel member 14 is substantially less than the diameterof the body 5' when filled and, in order to prevent the channel member14 falling from side to side within the body 5', the member 14 isprovided with one or more radial arms 15, which may be integral with thesaid member or secured thereto. Thus in Figure 3 the channel member 14is shown as provided adjacent both its top and its bottom with a pair ofaligned radial arms 15 adapted to engage the inner surface of thecontainer. The arms 15 are fiat and will not, therefore, preventcollapse of the container. The member 14 may, as shown, be provided withperforations or slots 14' so that, when the walls of the containercollapse against the member 14, ink will be fed into the longitudinalpassageway provided by the channel shape of the member 14.

In Figure 4 there is shown an embodiment of the invention in which thebody 5" of the container is provided with a plurality of internal ribs16. Thus the container of Figure 4 may be made from an internally ribbedthermoplastic tube which is attached to a moulded shoulder, the tubebeing extruded in long lengths and cut into convenient pieces for such acontainer. On withdrawal of the ink, the container assumes the formshown in dotted lines and it will be noted that the ribs 16 contact thewalls of the container so as to prevent their collapse against eachother and provide lengthwise-extending tubular passageways 17 for thewithdrawal of the ink. Each rib 16 extends from near the shoulder to thebottom of the container and thus constitutes a nontubular memberperforming a function similar to that of the members 10, 14 of Figures 1and 3 respectively.

I claim:

1. A permanently collapsible container for pasty materials andsemi-solids comprising a body portion, a nozzle, a shoulderinterconnecting said body portion and nozzle, a channel member withinsaid body portion extending from near the shoulder to near the bottom ofthe body portion, said channel member having a width substantially lessthan that of the body portion when filled, and at least one radial armon said channel member adapted to engage the inner surface of the bodyportion, said channel member being adapted, on collapse of the wall ofsaid body portion, to define with said wall a lengthwise-extendingtubular passageway commumcating both with said nozzle and with thebottom of the body portion.

2. A permanently collapsible container for pasty materials andsemi-solids comprising a body portion, a nozzle, a shoulderinterconnecting said body portion and nozzle, a channel member withinsaid body portion extending from near the shoulder to near the bottom ofthe body portion, said channel member having a width substantially lessthan that of the body portion when filled, and at least one pair ofaligned radial arms on said channel member adapted to engage the innersurface of the body portion, said channel member being adapted, oncollapse of the wall of said body portion, to define with said wall alengthwise-extending tubular passageway communicating both with saidnozzle and with the bottom of the body portion.

3. A permanently collapsible container for pasty materials andsemi-solids comprising a body portion, a nozzle, a shoulderinterconnecting said body portion and nozzle, two oppositely disposedwalls forming the walls of said body portion, and a rigid perforatedchannel member within said body portion extending from near the shoulderto near the bottom of the body portion, said member having a widthsubstantially less than that of the body portion when filled, at leastthe greater part of said member being spaced from the inner surfaces ofthe walls of the body portion, said member, upon collapse of the wallsof said body portion, defining with said walls a lengthwise-extendingpassageway communicating both with said nozzle and with the bottom ofsaid body portion, the perforations through said channel memberpermitting the passage of the contents of the collapsible containertherethrough into said passageway when the contents are being extractedfrom said container.

4. A permanently collapsible container as claimed in claim 3 wherein therigid perforated channel member is of U-section.

5. A permanently collapsible container for pasty materials andsemi-solids comprising a body portion, a nozzle, a shoulderinterconnecting said body portion and nozzle, two oppositely disposedwalls forming the walls of said body portion, a rigid slotted channelmember within said body portion extending from near the shoulder to nearthe bottom of the body portion, said channel member having a widthsubstantially less than that of the body portion when filled, and armsextending from the said member width-wise of the container so as tolocate said member in the container, said channel member, upon collapseof the walls of the body portion, defining with said walls alengthwise-extending passageway communieating both with said nozzle andwith the bottom of said body portion, the slots through said channelmember permitting the passage of the contents of the collapsiblecontainer therethrough when the contents are being extracted from saidcontainer.

References (Cited in the file of patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 972,095Booth Get. 4, 1910 1,109,110 Clark Sept. 1, 1914 1,844,215 Edwards Feb.9, 1932 2,643,027 Fink June 23, l

FOREIGN PATENTS 724,974 France lFeb. 5, 1932 1,074,166 France Mar. 31,1954 A an .e. r-"-

